The Military Court Martial presided over by Gen Freeman Mugabe, sentenced Ashraf Agaba to three years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a military uniform he claims to have borrowed to surprise his girlfriend.
According to Agaba, his girlfriend always loved men in uniform, but also Gen Mugabe was lenient since Agaba was the first offender.
According to Olive Najjuma, the Fatboy Show host, court-martial punishments are usually way harsher to send a message to other people. A 3-year jail term for a person caught illegally dressed in military uniform was somewhat fair.
“If the sentence for someone in possession of military wear is something like six months, then anyone could break the law knowing that in six months they would be out,” she said.
James Onen, the Co-presenter of the show, was curious as to whether the girlfriend was impressed by his boyfriend’s gesture. “I very much doubt that she is still waiting for him to be released. Imagine going as far as to do this for your girlfriend. You get sentenced to jail only to find out that she has moved on with another dude,” he exclaimed.
He also wondered whether the convict was to use the military uniform to carry out criminal activities but used the excuse of trying to impress his lover when he got caught.
“He could have been trying to use it for other ill intentions, or he could have just been ignorant and stupid and thought he would j use the uniform to impress a girl,” replied Olive.
Civilian possession of military uniform is criminal by law and contravenes sections 160 (1) (2) (c) of the UPDF Act of 2005 and holds a 10-year jail sentence upon conviction.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.